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New data have not relieved concerns about a possible cancer risk among users of Vytorin. This cholesterol pill combines two drugs. They are simvastatin (Zocor) and ezetimibe (Zetia). A study released in July found more cancer cases in people who took Vytorin compared with fake pills. Leaders of two other Vytorin studies decided to take an early look at their data. They didn’t find more cancer cases with Vytorin. But rates of cancer death were higher. The New England Journal of Medicine published both studies online. An editorial said doctors should prescribe Vytorin with caution until more is known. The Associated Press wrote about the issue September 2.

Brand-name vitamins may not provide any better quality than store brands, a consumer group says. The New York Times wrote about the issue of vitamins and quality December 5. ConsumerLab.com did tests on many brands of vitamins, the Times said. The group found a quality problem in about 30% of them. Some house brands from large discount stores were just as likely to contain accurate amounts of ingredients as better-known brand names, ConsumerLab found. It said discount store brands were more reliable, on average, than drugstore house brands. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not test vitamins before they are sold. An industry spokesman said the FDA allows some variation in the amount of ingredients in a product. He said pills may contain up to 15% more of a vitamin than the label indicates.

Teens who watch sexy TV shows may be more likely to get pregnant, a study finds. Researchers did a telephone survey of more than 2,000 girls and boys, ages 12 to 17. They were asked about what shows they watched and how often. In another survey three years later, researchers asked girls if they had been pregnant. Boys were asked if they had gotten a girl pregnant. Pregnancy was twice as common for teens who watched a lot of shows such as Sex and the City as for teens who seldom watched sexy shows. The Associated Press wrote about the study November 3. It appeared in the journal Pediatrics.

Statin drugs may increase problems with breathing and exercise in people with one form of heart failure, a new study suggests. Researchers looked at medical records of 136 people. Most of them had diastolic heart failure. With this condition, the heart is stiff or does not relax fully between beats. The other patients had systolic heart failure. This means that the heart does not contract fully when it beats. Some people in both groups took a statin drug. These drugs reduce cholesterol and inflammation. Among people with diastolic heart failure, those who took statins had poorer lung function than those who did not. They also did only about half as much exercise. These effects were not seen among statin users with systolic heart failure. Muscle pain is a side effect for some people who take statins.

At least 10 interest groups have a stake in the debate over health care reform. Today, four of the largest ones will offer President Obama a plan to help, the Associated Press (AP) writes. The four groups are hospitals, insurance companies, drug makers and doctors. Their representatives will meet with the President today. They will reveal a plan to slow their rate increases by 1.5 percentage points each year, AP says. The four groups all want to prevent expansion of government insurance. Other groups involved in the health care debate have different agendas. They include workers, older adults, people with health conditions or no insurance, and small and large businesses.

Special counseling and medicine may help women who worry about weight gain quit smoking, a study suggests. The study included 349 women smokers who were concerned about weight gain if they quit. They were assigned at random to one of four groups. They received either regular or specialized counseling. They also received either the anti-smoking drug bupropion SR (Zyban) or placebo (fake) pills. The special counseling tried to change attitudes about weight gain. After 6 months, 34% of the women who got this counseling plus Zyban were still not smoking. The success rate was 21% for regular counseling plus Zyban. Women who got placebo pills had a 10% to 11% success rate. But the advantage of special counseling did not last. After 1 year, 24% of those who got the counseling plus Zyban still were not smoking. This compares with 19% of the group with regular counseling plus Zyban.

Eating fish may help reduce Japanese men’s risk of heart disease, a new study suggests. The study included 281 Japanese men, 306 white American men and 281 Japanese-American men. Researchers measured plaque deposits in the arteries of the neck and around the heart. Levels were lowest in Japanese men. They were highest in Japanese-Americans. Nearly half of Japanese men smoke. This increases the risk of heart disease. But Japanese men eat lots of fish. Researchers said that may be why they have such healthy arteries. HealthDay News wrote about the study July 29. It was in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Early, tight control of blood sugar can have long-lasting benefits for diabetics, a study has found. The new study followed up an earlier, 10-year study. In that study, people had been just diagnosed with diabetes. They were assigned to control blood sugar with diet or medicine. Those who took medicine achieved lower blood sugar. The new study looked at them 10 years after the first one ended. The two groups no longer had different blood sugar levels. But those whose sugar was lower in the earlier study still had a 15% lower risk of heart attack. They had a 13% lower risk of death. The Associated Press wrote about the study September 10. It was published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Hospital workers are expressing concerns about the safety of the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine, a poll finds. But public health officials emphasize that it is safe and made the same way as normal seasonal flu vaccine. The poll was done by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Pharmacy directors said staff members are asking them if the vaccine is safe. The poll was released October 13. It follows two similar polls last week. They found parents and members of the general public are nervous about the vaccine. Some cite the quick timetable for development. But public health experts said the timetable is not faster; it only started two months later. The vaccine would have been part of the seasonal vaccine if the virus had appeared sooner, they said. HealthDay News wrote about the new poll October 13.

Routine prostate cancer screening causes more harm than good for men over age 75, a group of experts says. The advice came from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This group advises U.S. health officials. The group looked at research on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing in men over 75. It found that the benefits of regular testing are “small to none.” That’s because prostate cancer usually grows slowly and treatment can cause severe side effects. These include sexual, bowel and bladder problems. The Associated Press wrote about the new guidance August 5. It was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.